


This Works

by Kaiyoz



Series: ...And James Makes Three [4]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pheels, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-16
Updated: 2013-06-16
Packaged: 2017-12-15 03:12:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/844633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaiyoz/pseuds/Kaiyoz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint babysits James.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Works

**Author's Note:**

> So I've had a comment and an email about writing a Father's Day piece. I have father issues (he's abusive) so while I write a good daddy in Tony and Steve I don't do so easily. BUT... I had this fic in the wings and figured it was a good fill in for no Father's Day story. 
> 
> It's just fluff. And I freaking love the Gummibears but they belong to Disney. They got me through some tough times. :D
> 
> Warning: James is advanced. Deal with it. And here be gay men.

Clint peeked into James room and was greeted by a high pitch screech of excitement. The little boy was sitting up in his crib and staring at his uncle through the Plexiglas bars. Clint approached the bed and swooped the little boy into his arms. 

“Say, hi-ya, Uncle Clint,” he sing-songed in a high voice, bouncing the boy in his arms. 

“Hi-YA! Umple Lint!” the six-month old shouted back. 

Over the past few weeks James had begun to attach names to people. Clint’s name had been turned into Lint. Natasha had become Tassa. Phil was Pill, Thor was Tore, and Bruce was now Boos. Not that anyone minded, they loved it when James had begun to shout their pseudonyms, identifying his family members. He had not trouble identifying his Poppa and Daddy though. 

“That’s good enough for me,” Clint told him, setting the boy on his hip and taking him over to the changing table. 

“Crap, that stinks,” Clint muttered as he tossed the diaper and strapped on a new one. 

Clint, of course, found the Hawkeye shirt and paired them with a little pair of purple jeans. He loved the tiny socks that James wore; they were the tiniest things he had ever seen and he couldn’t help but think how adorable they were. 

Then he took James down to the kitchen to start the boy’s breakfast. 

“You and me, we’re going to have an awesome day,” Clint said, poking the bottle in the little boy’s mouth. 

He had taken babysitting duty while Steve and Tony were out for the day. Clint had grown more comfortable with James as he got older and a little less fragile. Now he could confidently have the baby balanced on one hip while he did almost anything.

The archer jumped on the couch and put James in his lap to watch TV while he finished his bottle. 

“Jarvis, cue up the Gummi Bears. James, I am going to introduce you to the greatness that is the Disney Afternoon line up. Now, when I was a kid that’s what I lived off of. When Disney Afternoon came on, life was good. I could forget everything but Tale Spin, Duck Tales, Gummi Bears, and Rescue Rangers. You’ll love it.”

The song started and Clint recalled the good childhood memories he had, though there weren’t many of them. He hugged James to his chest, whispering into his hair, “You’re not going to have bad childhood memories if I have anything to say about it.”

James squealed as the colorful bears bounced around for twenty minutes. Clint, despite his job as a sniper, had his own trouble sitting still and he crawled up to the “reading nook” Tony had had built into the wall. 

This “reading nook” was embedded between the ceiling and the rafters, making a four-foot by four-foot cubby for anyone that could climb inside. Tony would never admit it, but he had built the nest for Clint, after noticing him laying on the rafters over the living room. It was a reading nook for everybody, Tony defended. 

He grabbed his Stark Pad and sat down next to James. He took a few pictures of them together and forwarded them to Phil, Steve, and Tony, with the caption: 'We are so awesome.' 

"There's my boy!" Tony responded almost instantly.

"James says: jh,ihdki hhq;;p qp," Clint answered back, letting James poke in his own message.

"He's a genius! Snuggle him for me." Tony answered quickly.

Another message popped up a few seconds later, "This is Steve. I took Tony's phone away. He's in the middle of the press conference. He's answering your texts and not the questions. The clip should be on the YourTube soon. You guys look like you're having more fun then I am. Kiss him for me. Talk to you later. -Steve"

He promptly kissed James on the top of his head and laughing as he locked the phone again.

"Adorable," Phil responded a few moments later.

James liked to play with the various little games and books on the tablet, he loved to poke the screen and draw his finger across it. Clint opened a book for him and tried to read it to him.

“And the pig…” Clint read aloud. “Well, we are never going to find out what the pig did if you keep turning the page, James!” He laughed and kissed the top of the boy’s head. 

Then he took James out to the pool to swim for a bit, the kid loved water and it wore him out, perfect for before naptime. He floated James around before getting out, fully drying James and his ears, and then headed out to let a sleepy James lay down. He put the boy in the front room and turned on an episode of Gummi Bears, not fearing that he would wake the boy. James was conditioned to sleep in loud environments, he slept hard and they didn’t have to worry about noises waking the baby. Tony was never going to be quiet so why would he make his child learn to sleep in silence?

Soon, a few noises alerted him to James wakefulness. He fed the boy again, and then packed a bag to take James out for a bit. 

“What’s the weather like outside, Jarvis?” he asked, naturally looking towards the ceiling. 

“It is a brisk, 65 degrees Fahrenheit with winds gusting at five to ten miles an hour.”

He took out a sweatshirt and hat for James, and a pair of boots to bundle him up. He wrapped James in a blanket, flipped the stroller out with one deft flick of his wrist, and strapped the baby in. James babbled at him as he worked.

“Mmm… blum ffffpp. Bububu doo Poppa jaja. Lint spun,” the boy muttered looking around. 

“Really? Fascinating,” he answered when the boy stopped talking. 

“Flllllp. Bmmm. Tessa Daddy issooop. No no no. Yay!”

Clint acted stunned, like James was feeding him bits of gossip. “Your Daddy did that? Unbelievable.”

They stepped out onto the sidewalk James muttered, “Coooaalll. Brrr.”

“Yep, cold. Brrrrr,” Clint answered. 

“Yep,” James mimicked. 

Clint took James into the little bakery on the corner first, grabbing two extra hot lattes and some croissant sandwiches. He nearly ran from the store when a sneezing man came in, he knew it was being overprotective but he did not like snotty people around a clean, healthy baby.

He strolled down the street, James buckled safely into his stroller as they bounced along. He cooed down at the little boy as they stopped at the corner. 

“You want to go visit Uncle Phil? Are you having a good day?” he tickled the little boy’s feet. 

“Umple Lint!” the boy laughed. “Dink?” 

Clint shook his head as the boy pointed at his cup. “No, no, no. Your parents would not like it if I let you get wired.”

“No, no, no,” James said back. 

“That’s right. No, no, no,” he answered. 

A lady looked into the stroller, smiling at him. “Oh, how adorable. He’s gorgeous.”

“Thanks,” Clint answered. 

“Banks!” James parroted. 

She laughed. “He is such a cutie. How old?”

“Six months.”

“Out for the day?” she asked.

He nodded. He wondered what was taking this light so long; he should’ve strapped James onto his back and taken the roof. 

“Is your daddy taking you to the park, little guy?” she cooed, reaching to stroke his cheek.

“I’m his uncle and please don’t touch, he’s just getting over a cold.” He gently blocked her hand. He hated it when strangers reached to touch James. He would never touch a stranger’s baby, why would anyone else reach to touch someone else’s kid? Or their dog? He knew his social skills were rudimentary but you just did not touch other people’s stuff. End of story. 

He hustled away as soon as the light turned green. A few blocks later and he pushed his way into the SHIELD front office. He went through a retinal scan, glaring at the guard that attempted to pat down James. 

“You do realize who I am, right?” 

The guard nodded. “Everybody is subject to pat downs, sir.”

“And you realize who he is? And his fathers?” The guard nodded again, opening up the diaper bag. He raised an eyebrow at the clips of ammunition stowed in the side pockets. 

“Everybody, sir,” he reiterated. 

Clint waited a few more moments. The stroller was a complex piece of Stark machinery that kept setting off the man’s stupid wand. The man picked up the still hot latte in the cup holders. 

“You do realize who my fiancée is? And that that is his latte?”

He felt like he could hear the man’s “Oh, shit” as his eyes rounded and he hastily stuffed the latte back into its holder. 

“Uh, you’re good to go, sir.”

Clint wasn’t proud of it but he winked at the man as the elevator door’s closed. 

He pushed the stroller down the hall of the high-security area; he waved at Phil’s assistant, parking the stroller and take James inside.

He peaked in before opening the door, “Hi.” 

He couldn’t help but smile back when Phil grinned back at him. 

“Hi, hun,” Phil answered. Clint came around the desk and gave him a kiss before moving to sit on his desk. “How’s James?” 

Clint turned James to sit on his lap. “He’s having an awesome day. He hasn’t cried once. Though I swear he’s dirtying his diaper more than he normally does.”

Phil took James in his arms, helping the boy to stand on his lap. “You giving Uncle Clint a hard time?”

“Yeah, yeah!” James answered. 

“See?! I brought you a croissant sandwich and a latte for lunch.”

Phil grinned. “I knew I asked you to marry me for a reason.”

They ate quietly together, spooning James some pureed carrots and potato Bruce had started making for James’ meals. Bruce was convinced, and right, that he could and did make better organic baby food than anything they could find at a store. 

“When are you going to be home tonight?” Clint asked. 

“On time, if I can,” Phil answered. They kissed before Clint took a jog back to the tower. 

James was asleep again by the time he reached Stark Tower but woke once he hit the warmth of the Stark Tower lobby. He smiled at the receptionist before hitting the button for the living quarters. He parked James’ stroller in a closet and went to change the boy.

Kids went through a lot of clothes and diapers he noted as he tossed James’ sticky sweatshirt into the hamper with all the accuracy of a marksman. 

He put the Gummi Bears on again and James bounced in his jumping chair while Clint found the makings for hamburgers. 

“Lint! Lint!” he heard shouted from the front room. 

The little boy was still bouncing in his chair but pointing at the TV now. “Yep, that’s the Gummi Bears.” 

Then he played a round of baby exercises, consisting of James crawling after a crawling Clint. Clint was a good crawler, playing hide and go seek with the boy. He scrambled away from the little boy and then covered his eyes until he felt a little tap. James would screech whenever they made eye contact. Once his knees were properly sore, he put on another episode of Gummi Bears, and James fell asleep on his chest. 

The next thing he remembered was the gentle touch of his fiancée. “Clint?” Phil asked quietly. 

“Yeah, I’m awake,” he mumbled stretching; James carefully balanced on his chest. “This kid watching thing is hard.”

Phil leaned down and placed a kiss on his cheek, a fond smile on his face. “Love you.”

He had already changed into his “house clothes” as Clint called them, jeans and a t-shirt. The first time Phil had come to the main floor in his jeans Tony had gaped before accusing him of being body-snatched and making Jarvis scan him for an invading parasite. 

“I’m making burgers and fries for dinner. Can you go get started on the fries for me?” he asked. 

Phil nodded and walked off while he carefully shifted James up. He rolled the playpen into the kitchen and started on the burgers. They worked quietly until they heard a soft cry followed by a whimper. 

“Daddy gone!” James whimpered. “Poppa?”

Clint instantly had James up and in his arms, kissing the little boy’s cheeks until he squealed with laughter. 

“Can you toss those on the grill for me?” he asked, standing safely away with James on a hip. 

“Unl Pill!” James screeched, kicking excitedly. 

The smell of fifteen hamburgers cooking filled the floor. James seemed to settle as Clint made him another bottle. He held it to the boy’s mouth, gently rocking him. 

“This works, right?” Phil asked suddenly. 

Clint raised an eyebrow. “What? The fries?”

Phil shook his head. “No, I mean this. You. Me. A kid. It works?”

The blonde smiled, “I think it does. Do you?... Think it works?”

“Yeah, it does.” They were silent for a few minutes before Phil broke in. 

“So you’d consider having a kid… with me?” Phil asked. 

Clint nodded. “Sure, but I don’t have the hips for delivery so I’ll leave that to you,” he joked. 

“I think you just called me fat and I’m talking about adoption,” Phil laughed. “A few little ones that don’t look like either of us.”

“A few? Wait, I agreed to one!” Clint argued good-naturedly.

Phil rolled his eyes as he flipped the burgers. “One, three, ten… who’s counting? And for the record, your hips are wider than mine, your uniform measurements say so.”

Clint’s eyes were wide as Thor and Natasha dragged a protesting Bruce out of the elevator. 

“We smelled food! And wrestled the formidable Dr. Banner from his lab to feed him as well!” Thor boomed. 

“See? We’ve got four already,” Phil whispered, patting Clint on the ass as he walked by.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a few more James Stark stories, more Gummibears and assorted Disney is involved. It's all freaking fluff. Though I have a WIP that is angst, drama, and action! Woot!


End file.
